Roop Raj to leave New Orleans' WDSU

[PelicanGuy 117]

http://blog.nola.com/davewalker/2009/03/roop_raj_to_depart_wdsutv_for.html

 

Roop Raj to depart WDSU-TV for Detroit job

 

Posted by Dave Walker, TV columnist, The Times-Picayune March 31, 2009 6:00PM

 

Morning anchor Roop Raj will depart WDSU-Channel 6 at the end of April for an anchor-reporter post in his hometown, Detroit.

 

Raj, who actually hails from suburban Troy, Mich., said Tuesday that he's accepted a job at Detroit Fox affiliate WJBK-TV.

 

"Detroit is the only place I'd ever want to go outside of New Orleans," said Raj, who came to WDSU in 2002. "I grew up there. I have an affinity toward that place.

 

"I've had offers from other markets equally as large, and I've turned my head."

 

Detroit is the nation's No. 11 TV market, New Orleans No. 53.

 

Further motivation for Raj is the opportunity to report on his home city's ongoing economic crisis, which, he said, parallels the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans.

 

"We went through our storm, and I covered it," he said. "We have gone through a robust recovery. I want to now go home to the city where I grew up ... and cover their recovery.

 

"My mother and father are extremely please that I'm coming home."